The proposal, which Biden’s top advisers have been deliberating for weeks, would be segmented into two distinct parts – one focused on infrastructure and clean energy, and the second focused on what is being called a “care economy” with a focused focus on key economic issues. domestic.
In total, this would mark a major move towards enacting the key elements of the “jobs” agenda that Biden presented largely during his campaign for president, with a set of possible corporate tax increases and the wealthy as options to finance any long-term expenses in the final proposal.
White House officials emphasized that no final decision on the final path to follow has yet been made. Biden has yet to review proposals and plans to consult strongly with Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on the scale and legislative sequencing of the next key pillar of his agenda.
“President Biden and his team are considering a number of potential options for investing in working families and reforming our tax code to reward work, not wealth,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement. communicated. “These talks are ongoing, so any speculation about future economic proposals is premature and not a reflection of the White House’s thinking.”
But the move toward bidding directly to Biden represents a crucial next step as the White House moves to scale its next important item on the legislative agenda.
The president promised to split his main economic agenda items into two parts – a “rescue” plan, which was sanctioned this month, and a “recovery” plan, which he intended to use for a comprehensive job package with a strong emphasis on infrastructure. .
Biden and his top advisers kept their focus on Covid-19’s $ 1.9 trillion bailout plan, however, slowing the process down to the next phase of the agenda, while seeking to secure its approval and then spent several weeks promoting its key elements for the American public.
As of this point, recommendations for the next phase have not yet reached Biden’s table, officials say, although that is likely to happen over the next week as the White House moves toward Biden’s joint speech to Congress at some point , probably in April.
The infrastructure proposal would focus heavily on money for roads, bridges and tracks, and would include hundreds of billions in spending on climate-related measures, as well as climate-related research and development. It would also include $ 100 billion for educational infrastructure.
The home economics portion of the plan would include the Biden campaign’s top priorities, such as universal pre-K, significant childcare spending, care and proposals aimed at trying to deal with the portions of the workforce most affected by the pandemic economy.
Biden plans to seek bipartisan support, according to his advisers. He has already held several bipartisan meetings in the Oval Office on the subject. During a meeting with union leaders at the Oval office in February, Biden repeatedly emphasized that he thought there was a way for bipartisanship on the issue, according to one participant.
But officials are also planning for Democrats in Congress to move simultaneously with a budgetary procedure that would allow any package to pass a simple majority in the U.S. Senate.
While infrastructure has been a top-tier bipartisan settlement area, Democrats on both sides of Pennsylvania Avenue have made clear tax increases on the wealthy and corporations are likely ways to finance the proposal’s long-term spending.
Although Biden said what he plans to do in terms of politics during the campaign – and any tax increases will largely be removed from the options menu that Biden presented before taking office, officials say, the possibility has already drawn the ire of the major republicans.
It is something that Democrats are well aware of – and it has fueled debates both on Capitol Hill and on the West Wing over how to structure the legislative momentum. In the coming weeks, Biden is expected to give his opinion on his position, while maintaining close contact with Schumer and Pelosi, officials say.
While planning remains fluid, officials are looking tentatively at Biden’s likely joint April speech to Congress as a time when the main thematic elements of the package are clarified.